This bit here will be inserted at the very start, making for a sort of prologue for this story. I think it works pretty well, but critical commentary is strongly desired.
Precia Testarossa was at a loss.
The last thing she remembered was falling into chaotic space - that which lay even beneath dimensional space.
She had hoped that maybe, just maybe she might land in Al Hazred.
Instead, she was in what appeared to be Unadministered World 97 all over again. But nowhere near where the jewel seeds had landed. She was in some strange city with wide-open land tracts and a small metropolitan in the center. The people were different, and so was the language.
Several languages actually! Utter insanity!
She sighed as she looked to Alicia’s stasis tank. At the very least she had been able to find a source of power. It was fortunate that the stasis device had its own internal backup power for emergencies like these - where Alicia was involved, Precia took absolutely no chances.
A sudden coughing fit wracked her and once it passed she looked to her hand. Blood in her sputum again. Much more than last time. Her condition was deteriorating fast and she had no idea of what to do or where to go.
Just then, a noise drew her immediate attention. An empty beverage container of some cheap metal rolled out from behind a small pile of boxes. She drew out her device, Scharfrichter, and shifted it into its secondary whip-form. Whatever was preying on her will not survive the encounter.
“Please do not be alarmed,” said a voice that sounded anything but threatening. “I do not intend any harm.”
“Show yourself!” demanded Precia.
A strange creature that somewhat resembled a cat, white with red markings, jumped up from behind it’s cover and perched lightly on the boxes. Its beady little red eyes stared at her with its face frozen in the most ridiculous little smile she had ever seen. She had no idea what to make of the ‘tails’ that seemed to sprout from its ears, let alone the two gold rings that seems to float around them.
“Greetings. My name is Kyubey. You seem to be in a predicament. I might be able to do something helpful.”
“... Go on, Kyubey. I will decide for myself if you can indeed be helpful.”
This next bit is going to be inserted right after the First Night of the Stakeout. Here, we get to see a bit of what Precia is up to...
Precia gazed into her soul gem. She would never cease to be amazed by this strange bit of technology. A mana-reactor of some kind that house her very soul, and empowering her linker core to a level that was far greater than what she had enjoyed in her prime. She had such power now that she wasn’t even sure if it would fit on the Midchildan scale at all - she was at the very least SSS+ Rank.
“Mother,” said a soft, deadpan voice behind her. Precia sneered as she turned to the source.
Kyubey had not been able to grant the wish she had wanted. Instead, all it was able to do was to create a simulacrum of Alicia.
Of course, it behaved nothing at all like her daughter. It was a dead thing - completely lifeless and devoid of anything that might resemble a soul. Indeed, looking into its red eyes, Precia could see no light there. This thing may as well have been an elaborate clockwork doll. So she had it dressed in a manner similar to Fate. Though not even that helped much. They still made her skin crawl and her lip curl.
At the very least, it was faultlessly obedient. Which was why she had made more.
“What is it?” she demanded in a tone that was just short of being a snarl.
“The latest experiment has concluded,” it stated with a flat tone and an almost mechanical rhythm.
“Yes, and?” she said impatiently. “The results?”
“The latest iteration of the phylactery failed to contain the subject’s soul. However, we were successful in capturing the subject’s life essence and it has been added to the stockpile.”
“Very well then. Dispose of the body and prepare the next subject. And make another simulacrum. I will have the next revision for the phylactery ready soon, so do not dawdle.”
“Understood, mother.”
Precia’s lip curled once more as the thing turned and left to do her bidding. She once more turned to her work. She was missing something - she just did not know what. Perhaps it was something to do with the linker cores? If so, then she needed to find a subject that had a much stronger one than the trash her Fate-simulacra have been abducting off the street.
She felt a wave of drowsiness come up, and once again she tapped into her power to restore her physical body. Just like that, she was suddenly fully alert and filled with energy.
The healing abilities that this soul gem came with had been what spurred the project in the first place. If it was able to restore her health and even a degree of her youth with just a whim, then she wondered what it would do for her daughter.
“Soon, Alicia,” she said. “Very soon.”
Once again, Precia Testarossa became lost in her work.
TBC...
Precia Testarossa was at a loss.
The last thing she remembered was falling into chaotic space - that which lay even beneath dimensional space.
She had hoped that maybe, just maybe she might land in Al Hazred.
Instead, she was in what appeared to be Unadministered World 97 all over again. But nowhere near where the jewel seeds had landed. She was in some strange city with wide-open land tracts and a small metropolitan in the center. The people were different, and so was the language.
Several languages actually! Utter insanity!
She sighed as she looked to Alicia’s stasis tank. At the very least she had been able to find a source of power. It was fortunate that the stasis device had its own internal backup power for emergencies like these - where Alicia was involved, Precia took absolutely no chances.
A sudden coughing fit wracked her and once it passed she looked to her hand. Blood in her sputum again. Much more than last time. Her condition was deteriorating fast and she had no idea of what to do or where to go.
Just then, a noise drew her immediate attention. An empty beverage container of some cheap metal rolled out from behind a small pile of boxes. She drew out her device, Scharfrichter, and shifted it into its secondary whip-form. Whatever was preying on her will not survive the encounter.
“Please do not be alarmed,” said a voice that sounded anything but threatening. “I do not intend any harm.”
“Show yourself!” demanded Precia.
A strange creature that somewhat resembled a cat, white with red markings, jumped up from behind it’s cover and perched lightly on the boxes. Its beady little red eyes stared at her with its face frozen in the most ridiculous little smile she had ever seen. She had no idea what to make of the ‘tails’ that seemed to sprout from its ears, let alone the two gold rings that seems to float around them.
“Greetings. My name is Kyubey. You seem to be in a predicament. I might be able to do something helpful.”
“... Go on, Kyubey. I will decide for myself if you can indeed be helpful.”
This next bit is going to be inserted right after the First Night of the Stakeout. Here, we get to see a bit of what Precia is up to...
Precia gazed into her soul gem. She would never cease to be amazed by this strange bit of technology. A mana-reactor of some kind that house her very soul, and empowering her linker core to a level that was far greater than what she had enjoyed in her prime. She had such power now that she wasn’t even sure if it would fit on the Midchildan scale at all - she was at the very least SSS+ Rank.
“Mother,” said a soft, deadpan voice behind her. Precia sneered as she turned to the source.
Kyubey had not been able to grant the wish she had wanted. Instead, all it was able to do was to create a simulacrum of Alicia.
Of course, it behaved nothing at all like her daughter. It was a dead thing - completely lifeless and devoid of anything that might resemble a soul. Indeed, looking into its red eyes, Precia could see no light there. This thing may as well have been an elaborate clockwork doll. So she had it dressed in a manner similar to Fate. Though not even that helped much. They still made her skin crawl and her lip curl.
At the very least, it was faultlessly obedient. Which was why she had made more.
“What is it?” she demanded in a tone that was just short of being a snarl.
“The latest experiment has concluded,” it stated with a flat tone and an almost mechanical rhythm.
“Yes, and?” she said impatiently. “The results?”
“The latest iteration of the phylactery failed to contain the subject’s soul. However, we were successful in capturing the subject’s life essence and it has been added to the stockpile.”
“Very well then. Dispose of the body and prepare the next subject. And make another simulacrum. I will have the next revision for the phylactery ready soon, so do not dawdle.”
“Understood, mother.”
Precia’s lip curled once more as the thing turned and left to do her bidding. She once more turned to her work. She was missing something - she just did not know what. Perhaps it was something to do with the linker cores? If so, then she needed to find a subject that had a much stronger one than the trash her Fate-simulacra have been abducting off the street.
She felt a wave of drowsiness come up, and once again she tapped into her power to restore her physical body. Just like that, she was suddenly fully alert and filled with energy.
The healing abilities that this soul gem came with had been what spurred the project in the first place. If it was able to restore her health and even a degree of her youth with just a whim, then she wondered what it would do for her daughter.
“Soon, Alicia,” she said. “Very soon.”
Once again, Precia Testarossa became lost in her work.
TBC...